Dan Glickman: Obama Initiatives Overwhelmed US

Now that the 2010 US election season is history, the nation is evaluating what went right and wrong for political parties, candidates and even the Obama administration.

Bayoubuzz asked Dan Glickman, a senior fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center, former Secretary of Agriculture in the Clinton Administration and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (D-KS) from 1977-1994 the following questions. Secretary Glickman's responses:

What do you believe is the real message from the recent 2010 elections?

The American people are worried about their economic futures and felt not enough was being done by the government to deal with the economy, jobs and unemployment. They feel that too much effort was dedicated to other issues, like health care, at a time when economic anxiety is very high. Also, the presidential initiatives of health care, stimulus, and energy were not explained to the public in a clear, concise way, and I think the American people felt overwhelmed by those initiatives.

What do you believe is the real message from the Louisiana US Senate race:

Probably the same issues played out in Louisiana that we have seen in the nation as a whole.

With the republicans now controlling the House and the democrats still controlling the Senate and with the Tea Party being an outside force moving the GOP to the right, do you believe the US federal government can really get anything done over the next two years?

Split government can work to get things done. Certainly the Republican Congress and President Clinton worked together on a variety of issues after Republicans won the House and Senate in 1994. The public has spoken quite forcefully about wanting to see an end to the era of excessive partisanship, and constant political bickering and gamesmanship. The public wants the government to help solve America’s problems. Hopefully, we will see compromise in areas like reducing the debt, stimulating the economy and jobs, energy independence, and food and agricultural security. Perhaps we can see compromise in education reform as well. If either party insists it is ‘my way or the highway,’ then we will have two years of gridlock, and the American people will suffer as a result.

What must President Obama do to get back on track so that he can be re-elected?

At this same time in 1982, when President Reagan was in office, and 1994, when President Clinton was in office, both incumbents suffered major defeats in Congress and their political obituaries were being written. A lot can happen between now and the 2012 presidential election. If the president focuses on the economy and jobs like a laser beam, he can prevail in 2012.

Dan Glickman, a senior fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center, served as Secretary of Agriculture in the Clinton Administration and as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (D-KS) from 1977-1994.

Full Bio:

Dan Glickman served as Chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA) from 2004 until 2010. The MPAA serves as the voice and advocate of the American motion picture, home video and television industries. Its members include Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, NBC Universal, and Warner Bros Entertainment Inc.

Prior to joining the MPAA, Mr. Glickman was the Director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government (2002-2004). Mr. Glickman also served as Senior Advisor to the law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in Washington, DC.

Mr. Glickman served as the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture from March 1995 until January 2001. Under his leadership, the Department administered farm and conservation programs; modernized food safety regulations; forged international trade agreements to expand U.S. markets; and improved its commitment to fairness and equality in civil rights.

Before his appointment as Secretary of Agriculture, Mr. Glickman served for 18 years in the U.S. House of Representatives representing the 4th Congressional District of Kansas. During that time, he was a member of the House Agriculture Committee, including six years as chairman of the subcommittee with jurisdiction over federal farm policy issues. Moreover, he was an active member of the House Judiciary Committee; chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence; and was a leading congressional expert on general aviation policy.

Before his election to Congress in 1976, Glickman served as president of the Wichita School Board; was a partner in the law firm of Sargent, Klenda and Glickman; and worked as a trial attorney at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He received his Bachelor of Arts in history from the University of Michigan and his J.D. from The George Washington University. He is a member of the Kansas and District of Columbia Bars.

Glickman currently serves on the board of directors of the American Film Institute; Chicago Mercantile Exchange; Hain Celestial Group; Communities in Schools; Food Research and Action Center, a domestic anti-hunger organization; National 4-H Council; William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan; and the Center for U.S. Global Engagement. He is also a member of the Genocide Prevention Task Force, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and a senior fellow of the Center on Communication Leadership and Policy at the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, the Council on American Politics at The Graduate School of Political Management at The George Washington University, and is Vice-Chair of the World Food Programme. He is the Chicago Council on Global Affairs' global agricultural development initiative cochair and vice chair of the Friends of the World Food Program. He is the author of “Farm Futures,” in Foreign Affairs (May/June 2009).